Primary, secondary and special schools across North Wales have had their colour code ratings revealed.

The Welsh Government system grades schools from green to red, with green being the best and red deemed in need of immediate intervention.

Schools can also be ranked yellow - meaning they are effective and already doing well or amber, which means they need help to identify the steps to improve, and changes need to be made through discussions with regional improvement services and local authority support.

Colour coding is a controversial method of comparing schools against each other and there have been calls for it to be scrapped.

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This year, there is a much broader assessment that considers a wider variety of information including wellbeing and the quality of teaching and learning, rather than just looking at areas such as performance, including GCSE results.

The Welsh Government says the purpose of this is to understand the kind of support needed by a school and to give parents a better picture of how a school is performing.

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams said: "I’m pleased to see that even more of our schools are now in the green and yellow categories, continuing on with the upward trend we have seen over the past few years.

“These schools have a key role to play in supporting other schools to improve by sharing their expertise, skills and good practice.

“The system has become more sophisticated over time and now allows for a much broader range of factors about a school’s ability to improve to be taken into account – leading to a tailored programme of support and intervention which meets the needs of all pupils.”

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But leading educationalist, Mel Ainsow, Welsh Government 'champion' for Schools Challenge Cymru from 2014-17 and known for his pioneering work with disadvantaged schools in England, said schools that struggle are mainly in disadvantaged areas.

Denbigh High School, Denbigh ranked red

He said collective effort, not “naming and shaming” is needed to help them improve, adding: "By and large, the schools that struggle serve the more disadvantaged communities.

"Greater efforts are needed to get behind and support staff in these schools.